Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Thursday 17 March 2011
17 March 2011
Furneaux: 'I can see Mariners falling into foreign hands'. Brilliant. Fucking fantastic. Falling into any other hands would be good, but foreign owners: jackpot. Your Part-Time Diary conjured visions of a renaissance in Grimsby. A suit-and-scarf-wearing manager, petulant European strikers at Blundell Park, an unfeasible business model, a statue of Michael Jacksonoutside. Oh no, hang on - it's another one of those 'Jim Edinburgh' Telegraph moments. The first line reveals that Peter Furneaux "can't envisage a day when the Mariners are in the hands of foreign owners".
The fabricated headline is given some flimsy backing as - deep in the article and probably when Furneaux was under pressure from a sensationalist headline-seeking reporter - he dreamily muses: "If Grimsby Town becomes a top club again, it would be very nice to think people would be fighting to buy it." That has to be one of the biggest ifs I have ever encountered on a Thursday, if not any day of the week. He doesn't even say 'foreign' people, just people. Although foreign in Grimsby terms can often be anything further than Louth.
Anyway, it doesn't look like Grimsby will be under foreign ownership any time soon. Maybe if we got back to the second division, got a new ground, more fans, a more attractive name and some better songs, ditched the burgers and flasks for prawn paninis and Perrier, and moved to London. Even then it's only a maybe.
Deadly John (Topcon) has hit back at cocky cockney Justin Edinburgh's presumptions that he could have been Town boss. Fenty says he did not offer, sorry,
Edinburgh is probably one to take off the expansive list after Foggygate, the debacle that saw - or didn't see, more correctly - Dave's winning run continue until Saturday at least. Fenty spoke to the fourth official and questioned whether the weather was affecting the fans' enjoyment of the match. I don't know whether the fourth official informed him it was not the weather but the shit performance that was pissing the crowd off, but either way it was decided that the fans deserved a break and were allowed home early. Thanks again John. Where would we be without you?
According to the Telegraph, this is a good omen and means we will probably make the play-offs. Why? Is it because we may win the replay and the extra points will propel us up the league? No, it's actually because in 1972, around the same time of year, a game against Exeter got called off because of fog and then Town went on to win the league. Phew! Thank God for that. And there was me thinking we weren't going to make it this year. Sorted.
The reserves got hammered 7-2 last night by Hull City's equivalents. I don't really mind when the reserves get stuffed; it's more about game time with them. It's a good way to give youngsters and fringe players games, a chance to get first-team players back to fitness. But last night the mysterious Charles Ademeno managed to get himself sent off for stamping on an opponent. This incurs him a three-game ban from first-team matches, first-team matches he may even have been fit for. The indiscipline this season has been horrendous and seems to run into reserve games now. The squad cannot afford suspensions in the volumes we have had. It needs sorting - over to you Dave.